When you are out on the Eastern Sierra rambling about - and why wouldn't you be? Make time to go to see Bodie. It is a remarkably intact gold rush ghost town north of Lee Vinning. If you stay there, you can also go see the tufa formations on Mono Lake. Heck, stay a few nights, you can even tackle Yosemite from this central location.
You turn off of Hwy 395 to a paved road that becomes a dirt road. When I went, it was just passable for a sedan type car due to washboard. But I'm sure it is variable. As a photographer, one thing I am going to do next time I go is visit https://www.bodie.com/plan/ and ask them about any special programs they have for staying late or getting in early. I have heard they do this a few times a year. At that web site there is a ton of history info so I'm not going to get into that here. Just click that link and you can read endless stories and accounts!
But suffice to say, it's name is derived from a man who froze to death after finding gold in the middle of the winter of 1859. The town had several booms and busts from then on with heydays in the 1870's and 80's. The mill burnt down in 1898 followed by more fires in the 1930's that left it as it looks today as a state park.
I spent 4 hours without any trouble and probably could have spent more but it was getting quite crowded which doesn't work for photography.
You can see my whole collection of Bodie photos ->
http://www.christuckerphotography.com/Landscapes/Ghost-Towns/
I didn't see any ghosts. But even on this perfectly fantastic, hot, bluebird day, like only California can produce, I had a strong feeling of human history; suffering and hardship, joy and celebration all laid open and literally just left as they were 100 years ago. It's fascinating, morbid, voyeuristic but above all, great photo subjects. It would be awesome to do with a bunch of friends dressed up acting out!
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